As parents, we struggle to make our children self-sufficient and independent. The academic activities and co-curricular activities help children become better individuals. They get top position in studies, sports, dance, music etc., yet we do not remember them to teach few important life skills which are not told at school either. This disables them from acquiring the most essential aspect a human being should possess.
The simple thing which is required for every human is learning simple life skills such as valuing relationships and thus leading a peaceful and harmonious life. Therefore, let us see what are those skills children need to learn and in a simpler way how can we teach them to children.
1) Time Management
This is one of the most essential skills that need to be taught at an early age. Sticking to time-based activities like completing the homework, playing, mealtime, and playtime need to be explained and followed without distractions. Otherwise, children will end up wasting their time by playing over the phone or watching unnecessary programmes on TV. Diverting their concentration towards a fruitful task or engaging them in better habits is also one of the difficult tasks. Thus, if you teach your children the importance of managing the time at an early age, once they become adults they tend to value or shift their focus on useful things.
2) Managing Money
We give whatever our children ask for without disclosing the amount we spent or the struggle we went through while buying it. Thus kids nowadays are least bothered about the value of a thing. As a parent, our ultimate goal is to fulfill all the wants of our children without making them realise the difference between needs and wants. So we silently sacrifice without even understanding how do children perceive these situations by devaluing the importance of things or people.
Even for adults money management is one of the crucial tasks. Teaching your children about money, its importance and how to manage will help them prepare for the day they start earning a paycheck of their own. Owning a bank account, teaching them how to save, spend wisely and use of cards, and online shopping scams will make them a lot more aware.
3) Self Defence
There is no guarantee that society will provide 100 per cent safety for our children. We can’t always go behind and protect our children. Hence it is necessary to teach about good touch and bad touch at an early age so that they are aware of it and also safety measures to take against strangers. Also, make them aware of human trafficking.
4) Resilience and Adaptability
We often tend to see children go through depression at an early age, and the reasons seem to be silly. However, we cannot deny the fact that children cannot accept reality and adjust to the changes that happen around them. In simple words, children ignore the small changes like their birthday was not celebrated according to their expectations or their friends are not talking to them etc. These minor changes affect them in a very bad way and they become aloof or disinterested after the incidents. Here children lack the resilience to bounce back to what they are after the occurrence of a few unwanted incidents. And also fail to adjust or adapt to the changes that happened. Hence it is important to teach these skills at an early age. Give or show enough examples of other side of the life than what they are currently living in.
5) Taking Care of Nature
Earth is our home and we can’t just ignore what is happening to our home. Inculcating these values at an early age is a must so that children can live in a better world. Teaching them the importance of maintaining cleanliness in and outside the house, the need for recycling, reusing the plastic and growing plants and also the importance of it.
The value of friendships, relationships, caring, sharing, and helping each other are the basic skills that every child need to know. This helps them become better persons and also good human beings. Maintaining consistency while teaching these skills is the key component or else children forget these values just like their homework. Stories, real-life examples, and videos are some of the tools to make them understand these skills in an effective way.
Image by Gerd Altmann
